The joint border control regime at the Leușeni-Albița customs post will be activated soon. The agreement was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Romania and Moldovan officials expect that the one-stop shop regime will be launched before the Easter holiday. Both the head of the Border Police Rosian Vasiloi and Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac said the initiative will considerably reduce the waiting time at the border crossing point for passengers and goods, IPN reports.

“The benefit for all the citizens who cross the border is that they will stop only once in the customs post, not one time on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and then again on the territory of Romania. The technological scheme is being finalized. Recently, this agreement was approved by the Senate of Romania. On March 29, it was also approved by the Chamber of Deputies. Technical coming into force procedures will follow and the joint control regime will start to be implemented at the Leușeni-Albița customs post,” Rosian Vasiloi stated in the program “Common Objective” on TVR Moldova channel.

For his part, Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac said the joint border control will simplify the border checks and will increase the capacities to discover offenses, to meet the EU standards and to swifter deal with the flow of persons and goods.

“The joint border control post is an important and necessary step. It enables to adopt a much more practical approach to the management of the border crossing point. Moldova has only one access way to the European Union, through Romania, and this joint checkpoint is an important aspect as, together with Romania’s entry into the Schengen Area, the Republic of Moldova will feel much easier. Now the business entities are affected as these very long lines on the border hamper economic processes. This joint checkpoint will benefit the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and also the Romanian citizens. There are advantages on both sides,” stated Eugen Tomac.

The agreement on joint border control at the Leușeni-Albița customs post was signed on February 9. The document is valid for half a year and can be extended based on the assessment of the results of the control system. If the pilot project shows to be efficient, it will be implemented at other customs posts between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.